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The Car thread

Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
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Sleazattle
Jm_ said:
Roads here in Fairbanks are the worst I’ve ever seen. They got a bunch of rain, like inches or rain a couple weeks back, and then feet of snow. Now there’s like 1-6” of ice on all the roads that can’t be plowed off. You can’t use salt, because it’s below 0F. It’s completely bonded and cant go anywhere. There are giant holes in it near concrete and asphalt expansion cracks and you can’t drive more than a few dozen mph. It’s like repeatedly driving into curbs of various sizes, they’ll be every 5-10’ or so, giant holes, insanely rough. There are cars (most own trucks), but I’m not sure how they can’t be damaging them from the impacts. It’s seriously like having a concussion every time.
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When I lived in northern NY the town never actually plowed down to the road surface. They just let it pack in and dropped gravel for traction. When pot holes filled up they would fill them in with snow. Much of the year the roads were pretty much a composite of ice and gravel. After the melt street sweepers would collect all the gravel for use the next season.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,193
9,847
AK
Westy said:
When I lived in northern NY the town never actually plowed down to the road surface. They just let it pack in and dropped gravel for traction. When pot holes filled up they would fill them in with snow. Much of the year the roads were pretty much a composite of ice and gravel. After the melt street sweepers would collect all the gravel for use the next season.
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They grade runways in most of Alaska in the winter and the runways do just fine, traction is damn good when it's just compacted snow, it is basically like sand...but since they got that rain in Fairbanks..they are kinda fucked for the rest of the winter.
 
sunringlerider

sunringlerider

Turbo Monkey
Oct 30, 2006
3,687
6,569
Corn Fields of Indiana
Jm_ said:
Roads here in Fairbanks are the worst I’ve ever seen. They got a bunch of rain, like inches or rain a couple weeks back, and then feet of snow. Now there’s like 1-6” of ice on all the roads that can’t be plowed off. You can’t use salt, because it’s below 0F. It’s completely bonded and cant go anywhere. There are giant holes in it near concrete and asphalt expansion cracks and you can’t drive more than a few dozen mph. It’s like repeatedly driving into curbs of various sizes, they’ll be every 5-10’ or so, giant holes, insanely rough. There are cars (most own trucks), but I’m not sure how they can’t be damaging them from the impacts. It’s seriously like having a concussion every time.
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BFCFA0C8-AC93-4E8A-9520-5BC81A05382E.jpeg

Seems like the only viable option. And it was a hybrid.
 
sunringlerider

sunringlerider

Turbo Monkey
Oct 30, 2006
3,687
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Corn Fields of Indiana
jimmydean said:
This is looking like 800-900hp, kinda crazy for a 4 banger and it's almost a 100 pounds lighter than the LS2.
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Would be enjoyable to drive. You would more than likely get shot doing that around here. Because the “LS” is the best engine platform ever made, or at least that’s what the Chevy bros say in between gulps of Busch light.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,193
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AK
jimmydean said:
This is looking like 800-900hp, kinda crazy for a 4 banger and it's almost a 100 pounds lighter than the LS2.
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I find that a little hard to believe with the turbo and all associated hardware, intercooler, etc. LS is usually one of the lightest setups and significantly lighter than smaller displacement engines due to the pushrod design.
 
Jm_

Jm_

sled dog's bollocks
Jan 14, 2002
19,193
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AK
Also, my attempt to get gas at -40F was fairly humorous, I gave up trying to get the cap open. There's a sequence of things I have to do to fill up a government vehicle as far as entries and data and you gotta make sure your **** is together before you get out of the vehicle. I was ready, but the gas cap wouldn't budge. I didn't have anything good to pry with, but even if I did, I wasn't sure which way to pry and it didn't seem like the normal way would be correct on this vehicle. Rolling down those ice-impacted highway and roads was causing the interior lights to light up every time the car slammed into an ice-curb, the rear hatch sensor wouldn't engage at that temp for some reason, so it thought the hatch was open every time there was an impact. My coworker was saying he didn't understand how the F the federal government would transition to EVs and how it would "never work" up there. Sure, there's an issue of leaving vehicles out all day and night in -40 hooked up to block heaters, an EV may not work for that outside for a while...but if they do get it figured out, it sure as F beats trying to pump gas at -40, in fact, you leave the vehicles plugged in almost all the time and there isn't that far to drive, so if they get something that works in the cold, it would actually work pretty damn good...not having to stop and get gas. Interior heat might be a problem though, maybe less if it can be pre-heated plugged in, but you do burn some serious dinosaurs up there just trying to get stuff to the temp where you can stand to touch the insides and work stuff and driving doesn't put enough of a load and can actually cool the vehicle further due to ingress of cold air. Touch screens on new vehicles are fantastic BTW, thanks for removing the knobs and buttons that actually F-ing work in the cold. Looking at you Jeep/Chrysler/Dodge.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,547
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Portland, OR
Jm_ said:
I find that a little hard to believe with the turbo and all associated hardware, intercooler, etc. LS is usually one of the lightest setups and significantly lighter than smaller displacement engines due to the pushrod design.
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That was the theory.

Prescott noted how a few people claimed the K24—a 2.4-liter DOHC engine—was going to be as heavy or heavier than the pushrod aluminum V8 that the car came with. He says he's weighed both, and that's not the case. "The LS2 was like 488 [pounds] and the K24 was 318 [pounds], turbo, manifolds and all," he told me. "Off of what we've done, I think we're right around the 3,000-pound mark."
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They ditched the torque tube, put a solid Ford rear end and matted a beefed 2 speed power glide for drag racing.
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,547
13,672
Portland, OR
Westy said:
And Turbo lag for days. Irrelevant for a drag car though.
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I have a friend putting one in a BMW E30. Not 800hp, but considerably more than the stock straight 6. I thought he was crazy but apparently that's a thing now. K swap all the things?

His E30 was imported from Japan, so I guess that counts.
 
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Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,716
20,549
Sleazattle
jimmydean said:
I have a friend putting one in a BMW E30. Not 800hp, but considerably more than the stock straight 6. I thought he was crazy but apparently that's a thing now. K swap all the things?

His E30 was imported from Japan, so I guess that counts.
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Replacing a straight 6 with anything that isn't a straight 6 is blasphemy IMO. Perfect balance and the best sound of any motor. I haven't checked in on it in a while but there was a guy who was making straight 6s based on K20 engine designs for 240Zs

Edit: http://www.datsunworks.com/Blog/
 
jimmydean

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
41,547
13,672
Portland, OR
Westy said:
Replacing a straight 6 with anything that isn't a straight 6 is blasphemy IMO. Perfect balance and the best sound of any motor. I haven't checked in on it in a while but there was a guy who was making straight 6s based on K20 engine designs for 240Zs

Edit: http://www.datsunworks.com/Blog/
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Yeah, I was a huge fan of my '72 240z and '78 280z. The straight six was such a great package.

He's both a Honda guy and an E30 guy, but I was surprised when he bought the smooth roof from Japan to swap. He did a ton of work to his first E30, so I thought this would just be a euro spec redid. But it still should be pretty sweet, he kinda knows what he's doing.
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
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Squirtin ketchup n' mustard on charred flesh
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,730
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Colorado
chuffer said:
This opens up a lot of options for the commuter and the play vehicle by essentially decoupling opposing requirements…
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How dare you say that we don't need a 7-seat AWD vehicle with a range > 200 miles, when our existing one has only done that many less than 5 time in 10 years with >5 people. While our other, more efficient car can handle all long-distance, foul weather, needs for up to 5 people. All while having nearly the same storage capacity with the box mounted and still getting better mileage.
 
stoney

stoney

Part of the unwashed, middle-American horde
Jul 26, 2006
21,730
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Colorado
iRider said:
Yeah, now show me this with two 29er DH Bikes of the long and slack variety plus all the shit you need for a road trip. ;)
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I can get 2 full sized (ie wookie) bikes in the A4 All-Road with the rear seats down. I have to pull the wheels on the Nukeproof though, but that has a dh bike wheelbase. The A6 All-Road is slightly larger and with a box on top, covers all of his wants, albeit tight for sleeping.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,716
20,549
Sleazattle
A week of freeze thaw weather had rendered our normally shitty roads into a rock strewn moonscape. Actually got a flat riding the mountain bike around the neighborhood.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,716
20,549
Sleazattle
StiHacka said:
You should visit Massachusetts in early spring. #interstatefourwheelin'forlife
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I've spent a winter in Cleveland.

A lot of our roads here still have the original surface from when they were first paved in the 1950s. Parts of I-90 have literally been worn down to rebar. The main road near me is a thin layer of asphalt over brick. Whenever it gets cold enough to have a hard freeze everything moves and that asphalt returns to it's original gravel form.
 
Westy

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,716
20,549
Sleazattle
stoney said:
I can get 2 full sized (ie wookie) bikes in the A4 All-Road with the rear seats down. I have to pull the wheels on the Nukeproof though, but that has a dh bike wheelbase. The A6 All-Road is slightly larger and with a box on top, covers all of his wants, albeit tight for sleeping.
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The disadvantage of small trucks is that the cargo area cannot extend into the backseat. The new Ford Maverick seems like a pretty awesome utilitarian vehicle but the uselessly short bed is useless, would probably be better served as more of a van/wagon or "cargo SUV".
 
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